Insights

Insights

Living in the Three Provisions of God

Let’s look at these three provisions of God in a bit more detail.

Belonging: “The hope to which He has called us.”

God the Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light. (Col 1:13)  He has made us His dearly loved, deeply cared for children. (Col 3:13) He has called us to be part of His family, part of the church universal, part of the church local, part of a human family, part of His plan to redeem the universe, part of His movement of history towards the end of time where we will be called into  eternity to a rich, sinless and personal relationship with Him!  That is belonging!  There is nothing we as believers or anyone else can do to lessen that declaration of God that in Christ we belong! That is security in the ultimate call to belong!

 

Worth: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

In God’s estimation we are incredibly valuable. Who are we to argue against that? He granted us worth in what He did. He created us in the image of Himself. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He purchased us by the shed blood of the Lamb. He worked out all the details to adopt us into His eternal family.  The Lord Jesus thinks we are so valuable that He intercedes for us every day, the Holy Spirit prays for us continually.

God has given us great value.  We stand as Princes and Princesses, destined for an eternity of fellowship with the King of the universe, the most important Being that ever has been and ever will be.  And He says we are of immeasurable worth to Him, the riches of His inheritance. There is no greater worth that we can imagine or have.  No one else has any authority to tell us otherwise.  We honor and exalt Him by believing and accepting the worth He imputes to us.

 

Competence: His incomparably great power for us who believe

The fact is, in our natural, sinful selves we are weak and incompetent.  Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b).  But through Him, we can do all things (Phil 4:13, Eph 2:10).

How great is the power God gives us? It “is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Immeasurable, infinite, unending, incredible, unimaginable, beyond conception.

This is the Power that raises the dead, that is far above every authority this world has ever seen, that is endless, undefeatable, incomparable–and ours as a gift.

The primary means of using this power is faith expressed in prayer (John 15:7). Everyone can access that. His power is also released in praise (2 Cor 12:9,10, Psalm 50:23). Every believer can do that.  God is fair in giving all His children the same access to His great power.

Then He gives us spiritual gifts to utilize this power in every day life.  He gives us competence and then works with us to develop it.  Are we willing to appropriate that power and use it?  Do we believe His promise?

 

Taking up what God has given.

Since these truths are outside of our natural thinking and feeling, the first way to begin appropriating God’s gifts is to internalize the truth about them: memorize Paul’s prayer in Eph 1:16-21, and pray it for yourself—as well as for others.

Then every time those negative thoughts come, (“You are nothing!  You can’t do anything right! You are worthless,”) bring out the Sword of the Spirit, and use it in prayer.  Here’s an example of how you can do this.

“No, this is not true, God says that He has given me the hope of belonging, ultimate worth in being His child, and competence in the incomparable power He has offered me.  I praise you Lord God, King of Glory, Creator of all, that I belong to you,  that I am valued in your sight and that you have equipped me in your power to live for you in might and majesty as your child!  Be gone Satan, you are the loser! Christ is the Victor and I choose to believe Him!”

Praise God often for these gifts of belonging, worth and competence.  Live in them, minister out of them, bring Him glory with them.

 

Tea for two and Praise for You

Once upon a time there were two people living in a foreign land who got a package from home.  When they went to the post office to pick it up, the customs official opened it and took out two packets of tea, the kind of tea that they really liked and wasn’t available locally. Smiling, the customs official said, “You can’t have these; customs regulations!”  And with that he put the tea into his desk drawer.

Now, how should these two people react?  There are two basic possibilities: to complain or to praise–and we all know which is the correct one.  These two people took a moment to pray, “Why, Lord, thank you for all the times tea did come to us and customs let it through. Thank you that this time we didn’t get it.” Then those two people left the post office with light hearts and had a really good day.

Praise is a wonderful responsibility that God has given us.  It keeps us dwelling in the Truth, and, as you know “…the Truth will set you free.” (as Jesus said n John 8:32).  Praise sets us free from the nasty so we can dwell on the nice. (Phil 4:8).

Very often we seek God’s will in certain matters, but more often we forget God’s will for all matters: Praise.  Praise is commanded or demonstrated over 250 times in Scripture—that alone is a powerful indication of its’ importance in our lives.  And in Revelation it is indicated that praise will be our primary occupation in the life to come.  And do you know why we can praise God in and for all things? It is simply because of His character.  Praise itself directs our attention to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ and releases in our lives a fragrance that will attract others to Him.

The Best Five Things You Can Do in Leading Yourself Well

 

First, for your spirit:

Regular, personal, God-focused daily worship in your QT  (2 Cor 3:18)

Worship by giving Him glory for who He is without focusing on how that benefits me.

Use a Psalm to focus on His character.

This is spending time in the light of His presence.

This brings transformation of your whole being.

Second, for your soul:

Meditate on the Word (Psalm 1:1-3)

This means memorizing passages of Scripture, the personalizing and praying them

This brings transformation of your mind, will and emotions

Third, for your general well-being:

Praise in and for all things (Psalm 34:1,2, 1 Thes. 5:18)

Focus on the greatness, goodness, grace and glory of God.

Let Truth rule, not emotions.

Grow in faith by praising God especially for things we don’t like.

Fourth, for the health of your body:

Drink more water –2 liters a day is a good goal.  (1 Cor 6:19,20)

Since I started doing this, I’ve not had a serious cold in years and years.

Maintaining your body’s healthy water level:

Keeps airways lubricated: protects from invasion of germs.

Washes germs that enter our mouths into the stomach where they die.

Keeps our blood is thinner, which means:

It flows better, less chance for clots

more oxygen to the brain (can think better)

more oxygen to cells, (function better)

more food to cells, more waste from them.

Makes our kidneys work better

Prevents constipation

Keeps the whole body better balanced.

Fifth, for the benefit of those around you:

Whenever possible, pray with and for each person you talk with.

It is good for the other person,

pointing them towards God,

bringing His power into their lives

demonstrating your love for them.

And good for you.

Keeps you aware of your dependence on Him.

Keeps you humble and open to His leading.

Keeps us joining God in what He’s doing rather than expecting Him to join us!

Re-enacting the Garden of Eden

What if?  What if, in the Garden of Eden, instead of being a passive listener, Adam had broken into the conversation Satan was having with Eve?  He could have followed God’s directive to lead and protect his wife and said, “Hey, what are you doing, talking to my wife?  If you want to talk, talk to me!”  And after a few more sentences, “No, you are a liar; we are not going to listen to you.  Come on, Eve, we’re leaving this fake.  It’s time to get ready for our evening time with God!”

You probably know that God’s specific reprimand to Adam was about Adam’s failure to lead, about him following his wife instead of obeying God’s command.  (“Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,…’” Gen 3:17). The original sin was not eating the fruit, but Adam’s failure to lead himself well and then failure to lead his wife well.  That then resulted in the eating of the forbidden fruit.

Yes, what if Adam had led himself well?  How different the world, history, our lives would have been!  Recently in my worship time it struck me: every day we get to reenact the Garden of Eden and in some small way correct Adam’s mistake.  Satan comes to us and tempts us.  His main temptation is for us to disbelieve God and follow a lie.  Take for instance worry.  Every time I worry, I’m saying, “God isn’t really big enough to handle this situation.  I need to step in and help Him, make sure He does it right!”  The Almighty God who hung the earth on nothing, who breathed out the stars, who sets up and takes down rulers can’t keep His word to guide and protect me?  That’s what I’m really saying when I worry!  I have chosen to believe a lie of the enemy.

Instead, when I am tempted to worry, I need to break into the conversation between me, my flesh and the devil, and say, “No, I am not going to listen to these lies that God is weak!  My God is strong, He is the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven, He is the Sovereign God who is the bringer of the dawn, the provider of salvation, the ender of time.  I choose to trust Him to bring what I need into my life, to orchestrate the events beyond my control.  I choose to pray about this, to do my part and leave the outcome to Him!  Praise you, Lord God, for what you are going to do in this case!”

If we respond like that, we will accomplish what Adam failed to do.  We will have chosen to be glory-givers, not glory-stealers.  We will have joined God in another step of His great plan for the recreation of the universe.  We will have moved ahead in the sanctification journey the Lord has for us.

So each day, be aware of where you are living the Garden of Eden test all over again. Every temptation to be impatient, unkind, fret, worry, be jealous, compete or give into fears, is also the great opportunity to take up God’s grace, lead yourselves well and be a fountain of grace to those around you.  Which will you choose?  “He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” (Prov. 10:17)

Glory-giver or Glory-stealer?

We had just passed through the security check at the airport in N. C. on our way to Dallas.   I got my wife seated at a restaurant for a snack while I went and checked on our gate.  As I was leaving, I glanced at my shirt pocket, and saw that my passport and boarding pass were not there! Wow, that was a potential glitch!

Immediately the Spirit spoke: “This is a test!  Will you trust me in this?”  “OK, Lord, I praise you for this new challenge, for the chance to give you glory by trusting you.  You know what you are doing and I can rest in you no matter what the outcome!”

I told my wife about it, and went right back to security where all the bins were searched, but no passport or boarding pass.  “Well, Lord, another chance to give you glory in praising by faith. Thank you for your goodness in this, for however you are going to work it out.”

As I arrived back to the restaurant, my wife happily came to me with my passport! It turns out that in the rush to get everything back in place after going through security, uncustomarily I had stuck the passport and boarding pass into my backpack.  “Thank you, Lord!”  Upon reflection, I realized this happened because I had been worried about getting through fast and was rushing, not being careful.

Then after arrival in Dallas, while waiting for our luggage, I tried to call the office to see who would pick us up.  If they came right away, there was time to make our two interviews scheduled for that afternoon.  However, all I got was the answering machine (turns out I was using the wrong number).  I began to get irritated; worry and anger were not far behind.

As I went out and looked up and down the line of waiting cars, again the Spirit spoke, “Can you thank me for this one?”  My reply this time was more reluctant. “All right, Lord, I will praise you.”  My will engaged, but my emotions were elsewhere.  I walked down to the end of the line of cars, and at that moment the gracious folks from the office pulled up.  When we arrived at the office, we found that the interviews had been rescheduled for another day, so, although we were late, we didn’t miss a thing. God had it all in hand!

The next morning in my quiet time, while thinking through these events, it struck me that my irritation and worry at the airport were “glory-stealers.”  That is, by my worry I was saying “The Lord isn’t handling this well, so I’d better jump in and help Him out!”  There was no faith in that response, only arrogance.  But when He reminded me to trust Him and to rest in His strength, I was able to praise without having any result in sight; that gave Him glory.  This insight opened up a whole new perspective for me: in every response I can steal glory from God or give it to Him!

The next morning there was opportunity to practice this.  We were getting ready to go to the office; Barbara was carefully arranging everything in our room before going and I was getting impatient.  Then the Spirit reminded me: “Isn’t impatience a ‘glory-stealer?’”  “Oh, right, Lord, I repent; thank you for this delay and the patience you offer me!”  My heart calmed down, I relaxed, all went well, and most importantly, God was glorified.

So I encourage us all to take a closer look at our reactions and be aware that sins such as worry, complaining, negativeness, impatience, etc, are all glory-stealers, but also opportunities to repent, deny what is natural and give glory to God through trust and praise.  People around us will notice it. And all the angels and demons around us see it clearly!   “He who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and opens the way that I may show him the salvation of the Lord.” Ps 50:23